“So may you tend and take
and eat the gifts in the garden of the text.
In the gaps, in the margins,
in the secret spaces among the words,
may you find places to create stories anew.”
~Jan L. Richardson
As a faith community we are continuing our theme of Rekindling the Fire as we explore the old stories we were given as children trying to find new fire in them. I have found it amusing that we chose this task with a certain cavalier air. How difficult could it be to take stories like Noah and the Ark, David & Goliath, the story of the Exodus and breathe new life into them? It would be, we thought, an easy endeavor in the midst of winter during a very long season of Epiphany. Hah!
Each week has found us coming up against some challenging images of God. A God who causes great destruction. A God who chooses sides. A God who has speed of lightning mind changes. A God who is violent. As progressive people of faith who have embraced a God of love and justice, these stories that have shaped us can sometimes cause us to recoil in confusion and revulsion. What to do?
This past Sunday we were blessed to have the David and Goliath story unpacked in a rich and enlightening way. After going through the details of the story that could not possibly have been factually true……a ten foot man…..two warring sides sitting and looking at one another for two weeks…….our speaker invited us to see this story as allegory.
Allegory….the expression by means of symbolic figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence. Goliath, the giant, who threatened to overcome the Hebrew people is instead thwarted by the small boy David. David who believes in himself and his abilities is outfitted with armor that does not fit him, both in size & weight, and also in his identity as a shepherd. He rejects the clothing of war and uses what he knows to overcome his enemy: his shepherd’s staff, his slingshot and five smooth stones. Through the telling we heard we were encouraged to remember the Goliaths in our own life, in our world. We were led to see ourselves to be like David, full of the potential to live out of our gifts with the ability to turn from what is not authentic to who we are.
No retelling can take the violence out of this story. The Bible is full of as many re-countings of war as the daily newspaper. But in fanning the flames of the truth of it, we can come to see new ways to overcome the obstacles, the Goliaths, that bark at our door in the middle of the night. We can remind ourselves of the ways in which we are lured daily to turn from the essence of our true identity and we can stand sure in our uniqueness, our image of God for the world. We can, with confidence, reach for the five smooth stones what will guide what our actions might be.
As Jan Richardson points out, there are secret spaces in all our words, both sacred and secular. The words we use to give voice to our faith. The words we use to speak our love. The words we use to tell the story of faith over and over again to the next generation. Those spaces hold the hope for the continuation of a rich legacy. A legacy of a fire that will never die out.
As each of us come up against the Goliaths of this day, may we know who we truly are and may we clothe ourselves with confidence. The confidence that we have within us all we need to overcome the giants that frighten and the assurance that we do not walk alone on this path. May we find within all the secret spaces of the words we speak and use, room for newness to spring forth.
Blessed be……